I've read ideas discussed on other threads, now I need your sounding board:

I want to get one! I'm in my 50s in decent shape. Definitely small and discrete.

Trouble deciding what one to get... a line from one of his songs?

Faves lyrics include

The only love there is, is the love you make

Starfish and coffee (that could be a visual)

Dreams become the life u lead

I love the idea behind The Breakdown but it's easy to misunderstand - to me it's very positive, about letting God strip away what is not really us, what is our lower self/ego

The symbol is not as current as it was.

His face is too much.

His guitar maybe?

What do you think?

thats a tuff one...tats are so personal to each person ....pray on it something will come to you.

If I were gonna get a P tatoo, I'd get the 'eye' from No:

there are a lot of great ideas on Pinterest , just put in "Prince tattoo," and a bunch will come up to give you some ideas

or just the cloud guitar

peedub said:

With a little blue angel cloud guitar.

[Edited 2/24/17 10:39am]

Guitarhero said:

peedub said:

With a little blue angel cloud guitar.

I was thinking the incorporated with something else. Maybe literally on a black circle representing a record. Yes to his music. Yes to vinyl. Yes to Prince. Positivity. It's your plus sign.. etc etc

TrivialPursuit said:

Guitarhero said:

With a little blue angel cloud guitar.

I was thinking the incorporated with something else. Maybe literally on a black circle representing a record. Yes to his music. Yes to vinyl. Yes to Prince. Positivity. It's your plus sign.. etc etc

Sounds cool go for it

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Awesome.

eyewishuheaven said:

If I were gonna get a P tatoo, I'd get the 'eye' from No:

Yes, tattoos are not my thing, but if I were to opt for one I’d go for something quite small and subtle like that. As you say, portraits are often awful and the love symbol is a bit of a cliché (an earlier incarnation of it might work though – as seen on his motorcycle in PR for example). Personally, I’d opt for a piece of iconography/typography from his classic album or single covers. I’ve always liked the 1999 typography:

Perhaps you could isolate a piece of graffiti from the Dirty Mind sleeve (I was thinking about a “partyup” facsimile myself):

Or the "Rude Boy" badge seen on Dirty Mind, Controversy and 1999:

The peace symbol on Sign O The Times:

If you wanted to opt for something really weird and obscure…

The Paisley Park logo?

(you’ll probably want to create a scalable svg to work from)

I’d just avoid the clichés. Creating something unique from his lyrics is a nice idea as well, but I’d keep it elegant and simple. I was considering something myself after he passed away, but there are a number of artists, writers and thinkers that have had a profound impact on me over the course of my life, so once I start they'd be no end to it.

[Edited 2/24/17 15:51pm]

fen said:

Yes, tattoos are not my thing, but if I were to opt for one I’d go for something quite small and subtle like that. As you say, portraits are often awful and the love symbol is a bit of a cliché (an earlier incarnation of it might be work though – as seen on his motorcycle in PR for example). Personally, I’d opt for a piece of iconography/typography from his classic album or single covers. I’ve always liked the 1999 typography:

Or the "Rude Boy" badge seen on Dirty Mind, Controversy and 1999:

I've thought about the Rude Boy thing myself. Also, there's a round logo for the ATWIAD album that'd be pretty sweet. You'd have the album name in it as well as the band name, but visually it's pretty cool.

Please research how tattoos, inks, and designs age and look over long periods of time.

Even the best art bleeds, fades, sags, and looks like shit after awhile.

Yes, I understand you can get them touched up and stuff, but it still looks like shit later.

It doesn't matter what or where the tattoo is.

Design something stellar to decal and change-up on yourself to look proper, in a Much more Prince-like manner. Impeccable as he was.

Your body is a temple and it's Much more true to Prince NOT to jack it up with Prince associated permanent tattoos that will bleed, sag, and be tired soon. Not his style.

Think about it.

StopIt said:

Your body is a temple and it's Much more true to Prince NOT to jack it up with Prince associated permanent tattoos that will bleed, sag, and be tired soon. Not his style.

Think about it.

That's entirely untrue. Prince spoke about freedom.

You sound like my father, who is approaching 80, but was approaching 70 when he told me I was going to hate my tattoo in a year. That was 2004. He's yet to be proven correct.

TrivialPursuit said:

fen said:

Or the "Rude Boy" badge seen on Dirty Mind, Controversy and 1999:

I've thought about the Rude Boy thing myself. Also, there's a round logo for the ATWIAD album that'd be pretty sweet. You'd have the album name in it as well as the band name, but visually it's pretty cool.

Yes, something like this:

fen said:

Yes, something like this:

YEP! In face, even the boy as part of it would be great!

Or this:

TrivialPursuit said:

StopIt said:

Your body is a temple and it's Much more true to Prince NOT to jack it up with Prince associated permanent tattoos that will bleed, sag, and be tired soon. Not his style.

Think about it.

That's entirely untrue. Prince spoke about freedom.

You sound like my father, who is approaching 80, but was approaching 70 when he told me I was going to hate my tattoo in a year. That was 2004. He's yet to be proven correct.

Love it. Agreed.

OP, There are so many options. My problem is I have too many ideas. I wanted something simple but I also wanted something that made a statement. So I ended up with 2 P tats. One very large piece from my hip down to my thigh, and a small one on my wrist.

Imo you can never go wrong with Paisley. Pinterest is a good place for ideas and concepts, but It'll come to you. I would say go in with some examples/inspo and see if your artist can take his or her spin on it. Usually they come up with really nice designs. Good luck!

allmusicfan123 said:

Se7en said:

Prince was against tattoos. I shared a sound check story on here before, where he "schooled" a woman in the Bible after she flashed him her symbol tattoo.

With respect Se7en, I don't think that's really relevant (although I agree that anyone considering it should to be accurate and absolutely sure). If someone wants to express their admiration for something through body-art, it's an expression of their individuality. Once we start hanging on an individual's every word though, we begin to stray from healthy admiration and towards blind idolatry. There's a lot that I love about Prince, I'm a fan, but I wouldn't look to him for my broader philosophy. Life and our bodies are so transitory in any case - what does it matter in the broader scheme of things?

As for tattooing, it's an ancient tradition with a rich history that spans diverse cultures (the Ötzi mummy for example). As I said, it's not really my thing personally, but I find the idea of people inscribing their life experiences, cultural identity and ideas on their body quite interesting. Done well, they can be extremely beautiful. Your advice is good though – just be sure.

[Edited 2/24/17 21:18pm]

LovePaisley said:

I disagree that the symbol is passe. But I admit to being biased, since I plan to get one in the spring. Lol.

Just to clarify what I said about the symbol, I don't think it's necessarily passé. It depends on what you want to say. If you want to make a clear statement regarding your status as a Prince fan, nothing could be clearer. I like what it represents as well, it's also a very elegant and clever piece of design. It would just be a little too explicit and ubiquitous for me.

These are all wonderful ideas and thoughts! Yes to getting the lyrics right.

Will give it thought...

Love this symbol one

petalthecat said:

Love this symbol one

Uh, no.

Few more I love

StopIt said:

I like "I wish u heaven" for a lyric!

As to Prince not liking women who mark their temples... uh I can think of about a million ways his standards for women are at odds with those for others, esp. himself! I love his spirit as an artist, his fearlessness, his confidence in his own instincts. As well as his music of course. But I would never have been one of Prince's "girls"... he was way too controlling, faithless and promiscuous for me. No offense meant, we just need to follow our own hearts.

I am mostly sweet and a little rough around the edges, and that's got to be enough for everyone else.

[Edited 2/25/17 10:06am]